Chapter 719 |
Inside the jade-hued cave chamber, Lu Qing was in the midst of a breakthrough.
He was attempting to elevate the Divine Ability: Great Strength from a minor divine ability to a grand divine technique.
Back when Lu Qing first advanced to the Precelestial Realm, he had been the first in this world’s revival of spiritual energy to undergo a heavenly tribulation.
For that, the Heavenly Dao had bestowed upon him two divine abilities—Great Strength and Phantasm.
At the time, both were merely the lowest-grade minor divine abilities.
But they were of immense potential—divine abilities capable of evolving and growing in power through cultivation and comprehension.
Yet, at their core, divine abilities were nothing less than comprehension of the Great Dao itself.
The Great Dao, however, was incomparably profound.
If one’s cultivation realm was insufficient, attempting to comprehend it recklessly would only invite a backlash of Daoic force.
Such a backlash was no trivial matter—light injuries at best, the destruction of body and soul at worst.
Even Lu Qing had dared not attempt it until he had achieved the Nascent Soul Realm.
Over the past year, he had been maintaining his Spiritual Powers state, using that heightened perception to comprehend Great Strength.
As his divine soul surged, Lu Qing fully extended his consciousness into the boundless Laws of Heaven and Earth.
In his perception, the void unfolded into an ocean of laws—vast, boundless, and endless.
Within that sea of laws, thousands of colossal currents flowed like rivers through the cosmos, their origins and destinations hidden from sight.
The infinite number of laws that filled the heavens were all derived from those countless Rivers of the Dao.
Lu Qing understood: those thousands of great currents were what the ancients called the Three Thousand Great Dao.
Each Great Dao contained innumerable derivative laws beneath it.
The Great Strength Divine Ability he cultivated belonged to one of those derivative branches under the Dao of Strength.
Its effect was simple yet formidable—when activated, it multiplied his physical power manyfold, dramatically enhancing both offense and defense.
A divine ability tailored perfectly for the body cultivator’s path.
However, since stepping into the Nascent Soul Realm—and with his Wu Clan Bloodline awakening, forming the True Witch Body—his physical strength had advanced to a completely new level.
The once-powerful minor Great Strength had become somewhat limited in effect.
This time, Lu Qing had finally accumulated enough comprehension within the Dao of Strength to ignite transformation—turning comprehension into nourishment for evolution.
As his consciousness resonated with the law, the sea of laws trembled.
A branch under the Dao of Strength suddenly quaked, sending down a wisp of law power that poured into the divine ability seed within Lu Qing’s soul.
In that instant, Lu Qing felt the seed undergo a wondrous metamorphosis.
Then, as if drawn by resonance, more threads of the Dao of Strength’s law descended, flooding into the seed to aid its evolution.
After an unknown length of time, the surging waves of the law-sea gradually calmed.
Within Lu Qing, the transformation of the divine seed reached completion.
A flow of knowledge imprinted upon his mind.
“So, it has finally become… a Grand Divine Technique.”
Lu Qing exhaled softly, filled with emotion.
A year might not seem long, but within his constant state of enlightenment, it was as if he had meditated for centuries.
It had taken a full year of uninterrupted near-epiphany to elevate a minor divine ability into a grand one—testament to how difficult such evolution truly was.
For ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators, even with access to divine ability cultivation methods, progress of this magnitude might take hundreds or even thousands of years.
After taking a moment to calm his heart, Lu Qing transformed into a stream of light and flew out of the cave chamber.
He passed beyond the valley, deeper into the heart of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
When he finally arrived at its most secluded depths, he halted, suspended in the sky.
With a thought, he activated the divine seed—the Grand Strength Divine Technique burst forth.
An overwhelming power of law descended upon him.
In an instant, Lu Qing’s physical might skyrocketed.
His already formidable body swelled with power so immense it warped the very air around him.
Space trembled, on the verge of collapse, unable to withstand the gravitational force of his sheer strength.
And he did not stop there.
With another thought, his body expanded—towering to a hundred zhang high as the True Witch Body manifested in full.
Now, his strength reached an unfathomable level.
The surrounding space shattered under the pressure of his existence, cracks of distorted reality flickering in and out of existence.
“A Grand Divine Technique indeed,” Lu Qing murmured in awe.
“To think it could amplify my physical power even further, even atop the True Witch Body…”
He clenched his fist lightly.
A soft crack echoed—and the surrounding space collapsed like glass, forming a vast black void spanning ten zhang across.
“With this power… even if the White Ape King returned, I could crush him bare-handed without any artifact.”
Lu Qing nodded with satisfaction.
His choice had been correct—achieving a Grand Divine Technique yielded the most direct and overwhelming increase in combat strength.
Even if the eight Five-Tribulation Nascent Souls that once surrounded him returned, he had confidence he could annihilate them all.
Not even the Ten Directions Pillars Formation could suppress him now.
And this was merely the beginning.
As he continued cultivating the Grand Strength Divine Technique, from initial mastery to perfection, its amplification of his body would only grow more terrifying.
Of course, even the strongest divine technique required a vessel strong enough to bear it.
To fully unleash the power of a perfected Grand Divine Technique, his own cultivation would have to reach even higher realms.
But one thing was certain:
From now on, with every breakthrough, Lu Qing’s growth in strength would defy all imagination.
After savoring the sensation for a while, he dispersed the True Witch Body and deactivated the divine technique.
The fragile world could not withstand his full might.
A single lapse in control could destroy half the mountain range and devastate countless lives.
That thought reminded him of the inheritance he had received long ago—within the One Line Sky Gorge, from the Heaven-Shatterer Daoist and the Ancestral Dragon’s Son, Suan Ni.
Back then, their every move could shatter heaven and earth, collapse space itself.
He had been awed beyond words.
Yet now, unknowingly, he had achieved the same—and perhaps even surpassed them.
“I wonder if that Heaven-Shatterer Daoist and Suan Ni still live…” Lu Qing mused.
“If they do, after ten thousand years, they must have reached unimaginable heights.”
He chuckled at himself.
With their talent, if they were still alive, they’d be far beyond the Nascent Soul Realm by now.
After a quiet sigh, he concealed his aura and turned toward the village.
This seclusion had brought him immense gains.
The divine technique’s evolution had elevated his strength dramatically.
It made him eager to see what would happen when Phantasm too ascended to a Grand Divine Technique.
He was streaking through the sky as a stream of light when suddenly—his expression shifted.
Ahead, a sword light came speeding toward him.
“Master?” he murmured, recognizing the aura.
The sword light arrived swiftly, resolving into Doctor Chen.
“Ah Qing!” the old man called, his tone grave. “Did you feel that just now? That monstrous, fiendish aura from the mountains—what was it?”
Lu Qing blinked, then scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“Uh… Master, that might’ve been… my aura.”
“…Your aura?” Doctor Chen’s face froze.
“Yes,” Lu Qing admitted. “I broke through during seclusion and came here to test a divine technique. I didn’t mean to alarm anyone.”
“Good heavens…” Doctor Chen let out a long sigh of relief. “I thought some great fiend had emerged. That aura nearly gave me heart failure.”
Lu Qing bowed slightly. “It was my negligence, Master. I disturbed your cultivation.”
“It’s fine,” Doctor Chen waved a hand. “Let’s go back. The others must have sensed it too—better to ease their worries.”
They flew back at a leisurely pace, chatting along the way.
When they arrived, they found Xiao Yan, Han Lingshuang, and the others waiting anxiously in the Half-Mountain Courtyard.
Upon seeing Lu Qing and Doctor Chen together, relief washed over their faces—except for Xiao Li, who seemed unsurprised.
“Brother!” Xiao Yan ran forward.
“It’s fine,” Lu Qing smiled. “I was just testing a divine technique and caused some disturbance.”
“I told you it was Ah Qing’s aura,” Xiao Li said dryly. “But no one believed me.”
“Who knew your brother’s aura could change so much!” Xiao Yan laughed, hugging the little beast.
With the misunderstanding cleared, everyone relaxed.
Doctor Chen brewed a pot of Plum Tree Tea Essence, and they all sat together.
“The flavor has only improved over the years,” Lu Qing praised after a sip.
“If you like it, I’ve plenty stored,” Doctor Chen chuckled. “I’ll give you some later.”
Lu Qing waved his hands quickly. “No need, Master! You enjoy tea more than I ever could—it’d be wasted on me.”
The old man chuckled helplessly. “Even as a Nascent Soul master, you’re still the same.”
After a moment’s silence, his expression grew pensive.
Then, as though weighing something important, he asked quietly:
“Ah Qing… have you felt it too? That strange fluctuation in the heavens lately?”
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